According to the largest global study published in the medical journal JAMA, bacterial resistance to antibiotics is rising across all regions of the world, leaving children increasingly vulnerable to even common and simple infections.
Researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Sydney analyzed more than 106,000 infectious samples from patients under the age of 18 across 82 countries (data spanning 2004–2022). The findings revealed that newborns in intensive care units and residents of low-resource countries suffer the most from highly resistant bacteria.
According to a mathematical forecasting model, resistance to “last-resort” antibiotics will reach a critical threshold by 2035. For instance, in the case of Acinetobacter baumannii, which causes pneumonia and sepsis, resistance could reach 82%. Meanwhile, for Klebsiella, the primary pathogen behind urinary tract infections, this rate is projected to increase to 35%.
Scientists emphasize that the problem is further compounded by pharmaceutical companies’ lack of interest in developing child-specific pediatric dosages and formulations, forcing doctors to often rely on more toxic, expensive, or difficult-to-administer medications. In low-income countries, resistance is driven by over-the-counter sales and self-medication, whereas in high-income nations, it stems from the overuse of drugs in agriculture and veterinary medicine.
